Sunken Curse
by Meinos Kaen
Summary: On a training trip one expects to pick up many things. Experience, fighting prowess, skill. Naruto really didn't expect to catch a curse. Not at all. And to make matters worse, the curse is unlike all the others he could have caught. RanmaXNaruto XOver


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Ranma ½ nor Love Hina.

Come on, you knew it was supposed to happen sooner or later. :3 I'm basically revamping all my old projects. This is one. At first it was just a Naruto/Ranma Crossover, but then I had this little idea. There's not exactly Love Hina, in this story... Just... Well, I don't want to spoiler and it's complicated. Just read and I hope you enjoy!

_Prologue_

"… I hate rain." He had always found rain depressing. Ever since he was young, but now he hated it more than ever. Ever since… He sighed, putting a hand over his face, and then passing it through his long silky hair. And then he frowned when he noticed that he needed his glasses. It seems it was that person's turn. "Why me, lord? Why me?"

His hand went for his right pocket and he got out the enormous, thick glasses he was now forced to carry around along with other objects. He hoped that the glasses wouldn't get wet with rain like everything else. He still needed to develop the power to foresee weather changes. He growled. "Damn Ero-sennin and damn training trip to strange places… And after all that I still follow his plans and orders?! AM I AN IDIOT OR WHAT?!"

He screamed raising his hands to the sky, effectively wetting the glasses as well. A curse escaped his lips as he took them off and began to clean them with a handkerchief… Before noticing that once again, his navel was showing. He groaned. His chest's enlarging really was troublesome. He had caught a cold at least three times because of that and the fact that he had started to outgrow his clothes. He put them on again and noticed that he had cleaned them with the paper with the house's address. He palmed his face hard. "Alright, let's just read the address off the glasses and get where I need to go… I hope they have some ramen…"

He said, heading down the road to his right, oblivious or simply ignoring the stares he was getting from the passer-bys. Too bad. If he had stayed around a few seconds more he would have managed to see an incredible show: a red-haired girl fighting hand to hand against a panda. Since when did pandas learn martial arts? I guess WWF employees must have gotten busy.

--

"Ranma and his father have been on a training trip in China. Recently, it seems, they crossed into China."

"Wow! China!" The one who got more easily excited was Nabiki, as expected. Also, among the three sisters, she was the one with the most experience with boys… a particular kind of experience, but always experience. Few people who ever lived could ever guess how the devious mind of the girl worked.

"What's so great about a training trip in China?" Akane was the hardest nut to crack. She was always showing her open disgust for boys in general.

"How old is he, father?" asked the oldest girl, Kasumi. She seemed to prefer older boys… Well, not really. It was more like she found younger boys a little too immature. Nabiki asked her father if he was cute. Tendou Soun just replied with a round of booming laughter.

"I have no idea," he said, before shocking the three girls with those few words. The reality had already sunken in, but Nabiki pressed on just to be sure.

"You… Have no idea?"

"I've never met him," he replied again, before standing up and staring at their courtyard and pound, observing the spectacle of the clouds parting in the sky just as the rain ended… while his daughters comprehended that their dear father was downright crazy. For the sake of 'preserving the family legacy', he was willing to marry one of his daughters to the son of his oldest friend without ever having even met the boy in question. Suddenly, his father raised his left arm and index finger. "Ah, and another thing! We will have another honourable guest!"

"Who is it, this time? A Russian boy you ordered on the internet?" Nabiki said, earning another laugh from her father.

"Not at all. It is another young boy, indeed… But very different. And maybe even more… Prominent than my friend's son." That got the three girls' interest. Their father's tone had suddenly become serious, almost solemn. "He is the apprentice to a very prominent sage from the hidden countries of our country."

"…Dad, that makes no sense." Akane said, growling under her breath.

"Oh, well, because I'm not allowed to explain the details yet, Akane. Just know that…" Their father suddenly turned his face half-way towards them, seriousness evident in his stare and from his expression. "He has been trained for almost three years by one of the strongest men existing in the world. A man few people have any hope of even touching." Alright, that sounded impressive, at least to Akane who was the only one among the three girls who took martial arts seriously. "His master has asked us to take good care of him for us till they can reunite. He's here to train his strength even further, to learn. We must make a good impression on him."

"…" Akane suddenly found herself interested, if her dad put it like that. "What's his name?"

"…His name is…" her father started, about to uncover the name of this fabled apprentice…

"WILL SOMEONE ANSWER THIS DAMN DOOR?! I'VE BEEN KNOCKING FOR MINUTES, HERE!" …before a loud 'crack' followed by a loud voice echoed into the whole house. The four surprised members of the Tendou family just turned in the direction the voice came from, before hearing a groan. "Oh, no… I did it again. Damn female hormones…"

"Ehm… Hello?" Soun said tentatively, while the noise of a door opening and closing and steps made themselves known, then the sounds of someone taking off his shoes, dropping them onto the floor.

"The Tendou household, right? I've seen the name outside the door," the voice said, but there was something strange. It was definitely female. They weren't expecting any female guests, right? "Talk about luck. It stops raining right when I reach a closed place. Sheesh." The sound of footsteps and the voice got closer and closer, till someone walked into the same room they were into. "Sorry for the door."

"Ehm…" Soun Tendou observed the person that had appeared in front of them. It was young girl, probably around Kasumi's age. She had long auburn hair, and… She wore the thickest pair of glasses he had ever seen. And why the hell did she have swirls drawn on the lenses along with… Ink? It was melting ink. She was wearing a strange outfit. Some kind of black and orange jumpsuit, which was currently leaving exposed her navel. Too short? "Who… Might you be, girl?"

"…" That earned a loud groan from the girl. "I hate this part. Before that, could I have some hot water?"

"Hot… water?" asked Kasumi curious while she got on her feet. She was the one who took care of the guests' needs most of the time.

"Yes, please…" Continued the girl while she sat at the table as well, crossing her legs in a very… unlady-like manner, under the stares of Soun and the other two sisters while Kasumi went into the kitchen. He noticed the thing and groaned. "Something on my face?"

"No, it's just the fact that having an unknown girl trash your door and curse before walking in like was an everyday's occurrence is not your everyday occurrence at all." Akane said, a bit irritated by the stranger's rudeness.

"Well, you should know about PMS-ing better than anyone, girl… Well, I'm not sure it's PMS-ing because it's like, perpetual. That or this girl had some serious issues…" Akane's eyes suddenly narrowed.

"Alright. Who the hell…"

"Here's your… hot water." Kasumi was back from the kitchen and the happening interrupted Akane's angry sentence before it even started. The girl immediately got back on her feet with a wide smile.

"Ahhh! Thanks a lot, nee-chan! You're the best!" she said before grabbing the glass… And pouring it all over herself, shocking out the other four occupants of the room. She then shook her head, sending droplets flying everywhere. Nabiki blinked when he noticed something. It was like the girl's hair had disappeared. Where did they go? Also, her chest had flattened… And she had become slightly taller? What… "Ahhh! That's better. Now I can properly introduce myself."

"…What… the…" Akane was the one closest to the stranger when 'it' happened, so she was the first one to notice that indeed, instead of a girl, they were now no longer standing in front of a girl with long straight auburn hair but of a boy with short spiky blonde hair. The boy removed his glasses and revealed his blue eyes, grinning at them, raising his cheeks and the strange birthmarks on it.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you all."

"Oh. Ohhh! Uzumaki-dono!" Soun was the first one to recover and grab Naruto's hands tightly, bowing to him a little, startling the blonde boy. "How rude of me of not recognizing you! Was that the transformation technique?! How careless of me!"

"Ehm, no…" The boy freed one hand to scratch the back of his head, a bit embarrassed and uneasy, it seemed. "It's a bit more complicated than that."

"Ah, we will have time! First, let me…"

"Leggo, you fool! Let me go, I said! I told you I don't want any part in this!" Just then, another voice echoed in the air along with the sound of the doorbell. Soun's face lightened up even more.

"Ohhh! This must be Ranma!" he said, immediately running to the door. He half-expected at least one of his daughters to follow him, but they were still staring at the blonde once-girl-now-boy in front of them. The blonde noticed this and scratched the back of his head even more.

"Hello?" he said, trying to initiate some kind of conversation. The youngest of the sisters was the first one to break out of their shock.

"What… did just happen?! You were… a girl a few moments ago!" She said, pointing her finger at the blonde in front of him. Naruto sighed.

"Yes, I was. Well, it's quite a long story. So, I think it's better if we wait for your father to come back, before…"

"D-Dad!" Naruto blinked when he noticed the oldest sister's frightened face, joined shortly after by the other two. He turned around and his eyes widened as he saw Tendou run back in followed by a red-haired girl that was being carried by…

"A panda?" he said, raising an eyebrow and mimicking Akane's earlier gesture, raising a finger and pointing.

"Come on, you're scaring them!" the red-haired girl said, punching the panda over and over while he noticed that the girls were instinctively hiding behind him and their father. While Kasumi asked if maybe this strange duo were indeed the people they were expecting, cue to the man shaking his head from side to side in sign of 'No'. After Nabiki asked out loud what then was a freaking panda doing in their house, said animal took the girl and placed her on the ground in front of him. That made the inhabitants of the house a bit more… secure. The girl then avoided her gaze.

"You… you wouldn't be… Ranma?" Soun asked raising an arm and a finger, the strange illness having passed from Akane to Naruto and now to him.

"…I'm Saotome Ranma. Sorry about this." The red-haired girl said, seemingly a bit ashamed of the circumstances of her apparition. Naruto crossed his arms over his chest, observing her. She was very cute, he had to admit. Nabiki voiced his same opinion… But he got confused when she heard her use the male pronoun.

"Ahh! So you are Ranma! Ah, it's so good that you've come!" Soun suddenly became overjoyed and then enveloped the girl in a bone-crushing hug. Naruto winced for her, and he could swear he had seen her pigtail stand up… and then he saw the older man's eyes widen. Something had surprised him, it seemed. He squeezed Ranma in his arms a couple more times before putting space between himself and the girl, so that he could look at her directly. "…" That was when he started staring.

Nabiki narrowed her eyes when she noticed what her father was staring at. She leaned forward her hand and at first poked, then right out massaged, embarrassing the pig-tailed girl. "Um, please stop that?"

"He…" Nabiki stressed the pronoun enough to voice her annoyance. "Is a girl." Naruto was about to say 'you notice only now' but that was the signal for Soun to faint, apparently, since he suddenly fell on his back on the floor and passed out.

"…" Naruto stared at the man while the oldest and youngest girl got on their knees, worried about their father's health. Then he moved his stare to the red-haired girl, then to the panda, and then back to Soun. He crossed his arms. "Alright. What the hell did just happen?"

--

"Good thing you woke up. Crying in your sleep like that…" Naruto shuddered. It was something out of a film horror. He shook his head to clear his head. The man had woke up in a few minutes, gratefully. After a few exchange of words in which the blonde preferred to not intervene, the youngest of the sisters, Akane, had asked Ranma if she wanted to see their dojo. The girl had accepted and the two had left the room. "Now, I'm curious. What happened?"

"Ohhh, Uzumaki-dono! Such a piteous state you find ourselves in! We…" Everyone stopped talking when the panda suddenly held up a… a sign? A sign. On which he had written…

"_Soun, I'll explain. But it's better if we talk in private. And before that, could you show me to the bathroom?"_

"Ah… ehm, alright," the man said, and stood up from his sprawled position and began to show the way to the panda that after putting away the sign god knew where had followed him. Naruto sighed and turned to the two sisters left in the room.

"So, what's this all about?" he asked, leaning his head over one of his hands. Kasumi sighed while instinctively bringing a hand over her chest.

"Our poor father… It must have been an awful surprise…" she said, her voice very low, expressing her worry.

"Short story, basically our father was expecting an old friend of his to arrive with his son, who would become the fiancé of one of us three sisters to continue the family tradition," Nabiki continued, her expression mimicking Naruto's one, even if her eyes were focused on a magazine she was reading. "Imagine the surprise when we discovered he must have read the kanjis wrong or something like that."

"Eh… I guess…" Naruto scratched the top of his head in confusion. Fiancé? That word sounded pretty heavy… he then noticed that the two girls' stare was on him. He didn't need them to talk to know what they wanted to know. He rolled his eyes. "I'm a boy, if that's what you want to ask."

"Then… why were you a girl when you walked in? And also…" Naruto's eyes widened when he noticed that Nabiki had retried his backpack that he had left by the door and was rummaging through it.

"H-Hey! Stop that!" The girl was emptying the contents on the table one by one.

"A pair of glasses, a rope, a…" Nabiki observed the latest object she had pulled out of the backpack. "A cooking book." Naruto grumbled while the girl kept on pulling out object after object. "Nunchakus, a wooden sword otherwise called bokken, a Mac, a Laptop, a cellphone…" Nabiki noticed something by observing the cellphone she had just retrieved and turned his gaze to Naruto again. "You must be loaded. The last three objects alone…"

"Let's just say I'm… lucky." Naruto offered, still not really comfortable about some stranger going through his possessions. The last objects Nabiki pulled out were lots of cups of instant ramen, cooking tools, and pouches filled with weapons. After she finished, he met her gaze with a frown. "Satisfied?"

"Yes, I am. So? About the girl ting?" Nabiki leaned her chin on one of her palms again. Naruto sighed.

"Well, as I've said it's a long story. It would be better to tell it once everyone's here. Let's just say that when I get soaked in cold water I turn into girl. And hot water turns me back into a boy," he replied, earning a cute 'Oh' of understanding from Kasumi, who finally understood why he had asked her to bring a cup of hot water and had then poured it over himself… herself… well, he had poured it. Then, Naruto grinned. "Apart that, I'm one of the guests you were waiting for today. The one and only Uzumaki Naruto."

"Apprentice to a, and I quote, 'very prominent sage'… Ehm…" Nabiki sweatdropped when he noticed that Naruto's expression had darkened. A lot. There was some kind of black aura around him sending its tendrils around, and while he had lowered his head and she couldn't see, she was sure he was glaring. "…I guess your 'master' isn't a topic you're fond of…"

"…gonna kill… Ero-sennin…" he grumbled just loud enough for the two sisters to hear. Kasumi decided that they needed to change the subject.

"Naruto-kun, do you want something to drink?"

"Meh, thanks… Ehm, I didn't catch your name…" Both sisters sweatdropped when Naruto's mood suddenly did a complete 180°. Kasumi just smiled.

"I'm Kasumi. My sister here is named Nabiki. Excuse me…" Kasumi got back on her feet and walked to the kitchen, leaving her younger sister with the mystery blonde.

"So… You're here as another potential heir to the school or what?" Naruto shook his head.

"I'm just here to continue my training, as…" The black aura was back for a brief second. "Ero-sennin… planned. He was positively sure that coming here would do me a lot of good."

"I suppose… So, you're a martial artist?" Naruto shook his head and grinned.

"Nope. I'm a ninja!" he boasted. Nabiki stared for a few seconds, her eyes observing him from head to toe. Naruto noticed her analysis. "What…"

"A ninja who wears orange and doesn't cover nor dies his blonde hair? Aren't you supposed to be a master of stealth?" Naruto's face met the table. This didn't faze Nabiki at all, though. He raised his head while massaging his now bruised forehead.

"Ahhh… he wasn't lying when he said that the ninjas here in Japan are different than ours…"

"Naruto-kun, here's your drink." The blonde raised his head to see Kasumi giving him a glass of orange juice. Naruto grinned widely.

"Thanks, Kasumi-nee-chan." Kasumi just smiled back at him.

"Think nothing of it. I'll be preparing dinner, now. It will be ready shortly." Naruto smiled at her and began to drink his juice, when he noticed a mane of red hair sitting under the porch. Ranma. Seems like the tour of the dojo was over. Kasumi seemed to notice this as well. She walked to her and placed a hand on her right shoulder. "Ranma-chan, you already finished your workout with Akane?"

"Ah?" The girl seemed deep in thought. She just nodded in reply to Kasumi.

"I will prepare one of the spare rooms for you to use. In the meanwhile, wouldn't you like to take a bath?" The oldest Tendou sister said.

"Eh? N-No, I'm okay…" Kasumi just shoved into her arms a towel and then got the redhead back on her feet.

"Nonsense. You must be all sweaty from your workout." That said, Kasumi began to push the girl towards the bathroom, under Naruto's stare. Sweaty? She was fresh as the water that… He tensed. It was definitely cold water. He slowly turned around to see that Nabiki had just poured a glass of cold water onto his head. He fumed.

"What the hell?!" he shouted in his now feminine voice, as he felt his navel and most of her stomach beginning to get exposed, as he shot back on his feet. He then felt his now very long hair, black in colour. Nabiki blinked.

"But…" She observed the now girl in front of her. She had expected to see her turn back into the dorky girl from before, but… She was completely different. Her facial features were sharper, and she was at least ten centimetres taller than his male body. And her hair were not auburn, but black and even longer than before. Her eyes were jet black, her limbs longer… And her bust slightly bigger. Also, she noticed something. Her exposed stomach… She saw the outlines of trained muscles. Muscles she had seen just on Akane. "You're… Not the same as before…"

"Geez, you like to experiment or what?!" 'Naruto' stormed off to the kitchen, Nabiki's gaze on her back all the time. She followed the girl till she reached the sink and turned the hot water faucet, pouring it down on her head, and she saw the transformation revert instantly. Naruto took a cloth from the kitchen and came back while trying to rub his hair dry. He noticed that Nabiki was still staring at him. He groaned. "I don't transform into the same girl every time, alright? And the selection is random, so no more tries, please."

"…" Nabiki found herself quite intrigued by their guest's situation, by now. But she guessed that further investigation would have to wait. And on top of that, he did say he would explain everything. "Alright, alright. Party pooper…" She moved her gaze from him to his still laid out possession… Her hands immediately went for the cellphone and the laptop. "I wonder how my investments are doing…"

"Hey! What part of 'I don't like other people using my things' didn't you get?!" he said with a frown on his face just as Akane entered the room.

"Oh, Akane. The bath's ready."

"Alright." Naruto dove for Nabiki but the girl just held out a glass of cold water in front of her ready to be poured. The blonde pouted and admitted defeat, temporarily. He didn't feel like getting wet again. Akane in the meanwhile walked upstairs.

--

"Uh? She must already be in…" Akane said, noticing that Ranma's clothes were already in the laundry basked by the door. She smiled. She liked the girl. She was nice and quite skilled in martial arts. Maybe she could teach her something new. She started to undress as well and took a towel, holding it against her body. She opened the door…

Sausage.

"…" There should have been melons and a slit chestnut, but instead there was just a sausage. Red hair, and instead there was black hair. Up and down. The two stared at each for a bit before Akane closed the door again, leaving the male she had found in the bath alone, standing in the bath-tube.

The girl made backwards all the actions she did. She put back on her panties and then her kimono, just the upper part. She then put on her shoes and opened the door of the bathroom, walked out and closed it behind her, leaning against the door with her back right after. She stared in front of her for a few seconds, then closed her eyes and took a big breath…

--

"…" Nabiki frowned. What the hell was this blonde boy?

"Told ya you wouldn't be able to." Naruto said, rubbing the underside of his nose with his right index finger. Kasumi had brought him a change of clothes. He was now wearing an old Kimono of their father. In the meanwhile, Nabiki was fuming. In the end Naruto had allowed her to use her laptop, but when she had tried to sneakily access into his personal files… she wasn't exactly a genius, but she knew how to use a pc and bypass some protections… but what she found on that laptop was unreal.

His personal files were as protected as… as… as Nasa's database. So many traps, firewalls, passwords… At a certain point she didn't even know in what language everything had been written into. When he had noticed what she was trying to do, he had just snickered and told her that she wouldn't be able to crack not even one of his folders. She groaned as she failed yet again to bypass a password-coded protection and threw her arms up in the air in frustration before turning to the blonde with a frown on her face. "Alright, I give up. Just tell me who the hell put all these protections."

"Eheheh…" Naruto grinned. Sometimes he was almost grateful for his situation. Almost. "Let's just say that I have a friend who…"

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Naruto and Nabiki jumped in their skins when Akane's scream echoed in the whole house, along with Kasumi, Soun and the old man who had suddenly joined them in the house, even if he hadn't even see him enter. Even if the two men were startled only when Akane suddenly barged into the room where they were talking and picked up the table they were leaning their beverages on. Naruto had caught a glance of the girl's face. She was furious. Livid. And she possessed some kind of hellish strength… He groaned. Were all girls with a temper also freakishly strong? "I'm gonna beat him to a pulp!"

"A-Akane! What's wrong?!" asked Soun, more than a little surprised.

"There's a pervert in our bathroom!" Nabiki, Kasumi and Naruto had reached the room just in time to hear that last sentence clearly.

"Why didn't you beat him to a pulp?" the middle Tendou asked. Akane turned to her with a bewildered look on her face.

"How could I?! I was scared!" the table wielding girl screamed. Kasumi put a finger to her left cheek.

"But that's strange… wasn't Ranma-chan supposed to be in there?" she said, before a noise of footsteps became louder.

"Excuse me…" Everyone blinked and turned around, surprised… Akane's frown suddenly deepened, while the two older man sighed. Naruto just observed the newcomer. He was wearing the same clothes as Ranma. Red Chinese-styled jacket, sleeveless, blue bracers, black pants tied with thin red rope around his ankles. But this was a boy. Taller, no breasts, black hair… he blinked. He had the same ponytail and face, basically. What… "I'm Saotome Ranma. I'm sorry about this."

"…" The boy lowered his head in sign of apology while everyone around save for the two adults stared at him in confusion… until Naruto palmed his face. Hard. He supposed that one liked to take their baths with lots of hot water…

**Sunken Curse**

**Chapter I: What strange guys have ****arrived from China**

"…" Confusion had gotten the better on Akane's anger, even if she was still glaring profusely at Ranma, now. They had decided to wait for Akane to take a bath herself and get changed before the people involved finally decided to explain everything, even if Naruto had a good idea of just what they were going to say. Soun cleared his voice. "Allow me to introduce them again." Soun raised his arm and pointed it at Ranma and the other man in the room, dressed in a karate gi, a white bandanna and a pair of big glasses, even if they weren't as thick as his own. "This is my old friend…"

"Saotome Genma," the old man continued, catching from the pause Soun had put in his words. "And this is my son…"

"Ranma," the black haired boy said, taking from where his father had let off, this time. If glares were drills, Akane would have dug a hole all the way through Ranma's head and the wall far behind, by now.

"Ranma-ch… kun," Kasumi said, tentatively. "Don't tell me that… You too…" Ranma turned his attention to Kasumi.

"Me too? What…" Nabiki had took hold of a big carafe full of cold water, and had now emptied half of it upon Ranma's head. The boy now turned girl twitched. "Alright. I should be a bit ticked off, but I will ignore the irritation in favour of asking: how did you know?"

"That would be my fault," Naruto said, raising his hand while Nabiki poured cold water on top of the now panda Genma. "Uzumaki Naruto. And I have kinda the same problem. I suppose you recently travelled to Jusenkyou?" Ranma's and the panda's eyes widened at that, while Kasumi poured hot water on them to make them go back to their original forms. Naruto groaned. "I thought as much."

"Jusenkyou?" Nabiki asked, interested. Genma nodded.

"Yes…" He decided to continue the explanation himself. "Jusenkyou. Sacred, secret, legendary training grounds hidden deep in China's Mt. Quanjing region, in the Bayankala region, Qinghai province…"

"Otherwise known as the training ground of the Cursed Springs." Naruto groaned, thinking how much he would have liked to know that before travelling there. The middle Tendou sister mouthed the words 'Cursed springs' silently, as if to see if they made sense to her. Naruto sighed and scratched his hair. "I suppose I'll go first. I travelled there six months ago to continue my training…"

--

"Here we are, brat! Admire the legendary…"

"Yeah, I know, I know! Legendary training grounds, Jusenkyou! Between you and the guide, you engraved the name in my mind," Naruto groaned, before finally settling the backpack down on the floor, taking in his surroundings. "Well… The place has a pretty scenery, I must give you credit, ero-sennin."

The valley around them was still shrouded by a bit of morning mist, but he could see its entirety well. It was full of small ponds… no, springs, right? And a lot of bamboo poles were poking out of them. He scratched the top of his head. "But seriously, what kind of training can we get done here?"

"Eheheh, it's very simple. You see, this place is cursed, my boy." Naruto raised an eyebrow and turned to his master with a sceptical look on his face.

"Yes, it is true. More than one hundred springs here, mister. And each one has own tragedy." Naruto turned to the guide who was confirming the story.

"Basically, if you don't want to get cursed…" Suddenly, Jiraiya removed his backpack as well and Naruto blanked, dodging a punch to his head.

"Woah!" He jumped back, landing between two of the ponds.

"You have to fight me while being sure to not fall into one of these ponds!"

--

"…This kind of training… is kinda familiar to me…" Ranma said, glaring at his father. He had lost count of the amount of nonsense training his parent had made him go through.

"Then, remind me to tell you about the time he threw me off a cliff…" The black aura was back, even if it was thin, at the moment.

"So… basically, you fell into one of the springs while training?" Nabiki asked. Naruto growled and the aura grew of a few centimetres.

"I wish… that would have made a bit of sense…"

--

"Damn! That was close!" Naruto had managed to survive one week of training without falling into one of the ponds. He didn't know what kind of curse they could give or if the ero-sennin was just messing with him, but he wasn't willing to take the chance. A few minutes ago he had managed to avoid falling into one spring thanks to a well timed substitution technique.

"Ahahah! You've been doing good! And don't worry. Do you really think I would allow you to fall into one of those springs? You're my prized apprentice, after all." Jiraiya said with a smile, which Naruto returned. He guessed not. The white haired sage threw him a flask which Naruto caught with one hand. "There. You must be thirsty."

"Ah, thanks." Naruto said with a grin, then he opened the flask and began to drink, gulping down huge amounts of water before letting out a 'Paaah' of satisfaction. "Ahh, that was good! I…" Naruto stopped when he noticed something. His voice had suddenly become strange. More high pitched, more… Melodic. Then, something else. He didn't remember that his hair had ever reached past his ears, much less his chin. Also… "What…"

He tentatively brought a hand to pick up a strand of hair. It was silky, long, straight… auburn. And his hand… it was… it was… cute? Apart some bruises on the knuckles, it was… very feminine. Then, his chest felt… swollen. He lowered his head… he stared. Then… "Ero-sennin…"

Those two simple words froze in mid-step the toad sage who was trying to sneak away after realizing that he had just fucked up. Big time. How was he supposed to know that that lake was in reality one big ass cursed spring? It was so far from the other ones… "Where does this water come from?"

"Ehm…" Jiraiya's screams would echo for hours and return once every year, creating yet another legend for that place.

--

"After he was able to talk again, he gave me the instructions to continue my training trip on my own… and here I am."

"…" Ranma had taken in Naruto's words one after one, reconstructing the scene in his head. After comprehending just how he had managed to get cursed, he turned to his father and said… "And here I thought you were the bottom when it came to human stupidity."

"For us… It was almost the same. Only we fell into the cursed springs instead of drinking their water," Genma said, before Nabiki poured cold water on him again. The panda was back.

"But… from what I've seen, these two turn into the same thing every time they get soaked with cold water." Nabiki said before Soun doused Genma with hot water from a kettle, almost giving him a burn. A tad too hot. The middle Tendou turned to Naruto. "You… you change into a different girl every time?"

"More or less. In some more often than the others, but I do transform into more than one girl. Don't know why. With my luck, I picked the only cursed spring that the guide didn't know anything about." Naruto said with a groan.

"Hmmm… well, your problem isn't so terrible, after all!" Soun ignored Naruto's glared it seemed. His mind was focused on just one thing. Ranma was a boy. He put his hands on top of his shoulders and made him turn towards the other end of the table. "Look. This is my eldest daughter Kasumi. She's nineteen," he continued, using one hand to point at the girl with the long brown hair and black eyes. "My second daughter, Nabiki. She's seventeen." He pointed at the girl with short brown hair and hazel eyes. "And my third daughter, Akane. She's sixteen." He finished by pointing at the girl with long blue hair. "Pick whichever you want. She'll be your fiancée."

"It's settled then. It's Akane."

"They're made for each other." Naruto almost lost his balance on his hands at how quick the two older sisters had decided for everyone in the room. He thought they were out of their minds, with how the blue-haired girl had been glaring at Ranma.

"Stop joking! Why the hell should it be me?!" Akane replied, anger and frustration evident in her voice.

"You hate boys right? It's fortunate that Ranma is half-girl," Nabiki said. Naruto didn't think she had it in her to use such a lame argument.

"No way!" She raised her voice a little more, turning her glare on Ranma again. "Don't expect me to marry that pervert!" She put emphasis on the 'me'.

"Hey! What do you mean by pervert?!" Ranma suddenly got angry at being called a pervert. He got on his feet, staring down Akane. The blue haired girl got on her feet as well, glaring back at full force.

"You saw me in the nude, you molester!" She said.

"Wait a minute! You're the one who walked in on me!" That was true. Naruto observed the two bicker like it was a game of tennis.

"It's different when a girl sees a boy!" That last sentence annoyed him. That seemed like an unfair argument, one that one his girls would use… and he sighed. That always reminded him how similar to Sakura-chan she was. "Molester! Pervert!"

"Ahahahahah! They're already the perfect couple!" The two parents laughed while Naruto approached Nabiki and whispered in her ear…

"If your father were to see a shark swimming towards him with its mouth open and started gnawing on his legs would he think it was: A) trying to eat him; or B) attempting to helpfully direct him back to shore." Nabiki chuckled.

"I read webcomics. And I suppose he's always bad at reading intentions." Naruto chuckled while Ranma was ready to storm out of the house.

"Ranma! Where do you think you're going?!" The boy's father said, suddenly enraged.

"Back to China! I have to find a way to turn back for good! This is no time for fiancées!" The boy retorted just as angry, before turning to his 'fiancée'. "By the way, I noticed you took a pretty good look at me, too!" Naruto nodded, agreeing with him. It wasn't like girls couldn't be perverts, right? "It's no big deal for me to see a naked girl! I've seen myself plenty of times!" The boy seemed to have some brains. That was a good argument to him not being interested in seeing girls naked. That had ended it in Ranma's mind, as he turned around with his arms crossed behind his head. "And I'm better built, to boot."

He never saw that table coming before it smashed him on the floor face first. Naruto sighed. "Kasumi-nee-chan, I hope you have lots of bandages. You're gonna need them."

--

"So, they've bunked us together, hn?" Naruto said, settling his things in one of the drawers of the room, while Ranma tried to make his headache go away.

"Yeah. Pop's friend idea. Something about 'bonding between young promises'… darn, it still hurts!" Naruto sighed as the black haired boy picked the ice-bag Kasumi had given him and placing it on the back of his head, cringing as the cold of the object transferred to the warmth of the sore spot. "Owowow… damn gorilla girl…"

"With that physical strength the nick is awfully appropriate… I just don't understand how come girls with a temper seem to develop some kind of super-strength," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head. He had been on the receiving end of the punches of one of the girls corresponding to that category way too much to not learn at least that… and even after turning into one of those himself a number of times, he still had to understand just what made them go off and all Lou Ferrigno on the ass of specific males.

"Damn if I know…" Ranma said, sighing and then turning around, still sitting with his legs crossed on the floor, to look at Naruto even if the blonde was currently giving him his back. "So… you're a martial arts practitioner as well?"

"Nope. I'm a ninja. But…" Naruto finished putting his few possessions into the drawer and closed it before turning around. "My master said that I could really use some training in and against martial artists. I don't do that well in that area. I fight like a street brawler, basically."

"Ah… Then, how do you fight?" Ranma said. Naruto laughed a bit nervously.

"It's complicated… Basically, ninja are trained in three ways of fighting: Taijutsu, martial arts. Genjutsu, illusions. Ninjutsu, special techniques. I seem to have a talent for certain techniques, but I don't specialize in one of the three." Ranma blinked. He had got the first two, but the last one was enigmatic.

"Special techniques? Like?" Naruto scratched the back of his head. He had seen that coming. It was difficult to explain.

"Well… They're all the techniques that are not Taijutsu nor Genjutsu. They vary very much… Wait, watch this," Naruto said, before holding out a hand in front of him. Ranma stared at it, not understanding… then, it happened. Suddenly, something was appearing in Naruto's hand. It was some kind of blue stream of energy, then the stream began to rotate on itself faster, faster, as the quantity of blue energy got bigger and bigger, and it began to take the shape of a sphere. In the end, it was like he was staring at a small, compact tornado. He looked from the thing to Naruto's face, surprised evident on his face. "Neat, isn't it? I can't show you what it does, because it would make a mess."

"…Wow," Ranma said, a bit in awe. Naruto dispelled the rasengan and grinned. It was Ranma's turn.

"What about you? You're a martial artist, right? Are you strong?" Ranma broke out of his reverie and smirked smugly.

"Strongest there is. Even if pops is pretty crazy with his training methods, I must say that they worked. You hardly find martial artists of my level around," Ranma said, earning a snort from Naruto.

"Well, remind me to ask you to spar," Naruto grinned and then looked at the clock. It was just 9 PM. He guessed he could work on one of his 'projects', since there was no red moon that night. He picked up his Laptop and placed it in his backpack along with his cellphone. "Well, I have to do my 'homework'. I'll see you in the morning, Ranma."

"Ah, alright. See you later." Naruto nodded with a smile and then excused himself out of the door. He then began to walk downstairs, till he peeked inside the kitchen, to find Kasumi still there in the process of doing the dishes from dinner. She turned to him with a smile after noticing his presence.

"Naruto-kun. Did you enjoy dinner?" Naruto smiled back and began to walk to her.

"I did, Kasumi-nee-chan. One of the best meals I've ever had." And indeed it was. Naruto had never had many handmade lunches in his life. Kasumi smiled and nodded. "Do you need any help with those dishes?"

"No, Naruto-kun. I'm almost done." He nodded, and then remembered what he needed to get. He muttered a silent 'excuse me' and took two carafes from the cupboard, before filling them with water. One with cold, one with hot water, under the curious gaze of Kasumi.

_I hope I get her on the first try, though._ "Nee-chan, I'll be on the roof for an hour or so. And Nabiki, you won't be able to peek, sorry." Naruto said, walking out in the courtyard and then jumping onto the roof. The middle Tendou got out of her hiding place just behind the corner with a frown on her face, snapping her fingers.

_I guess I'll have better chances tomorrow…_ Suddenly, Naruto's head, upside-down, became visible from the kitchen again.

"Nee-chan, by chance, do you have any bananas?"

--

"A spar so early in the morning?"

"They're very dedicated to their art, Akane."

"Mhh… Is breakfast ready?" Nabiki said, sitting down in front of the table. How she was going to eat breakfast with her toothbrush still in her mouth was a mystery.

"Hmm…" Akane was the most interested in the father-son spar, mostly because that even if they were just sparring they were giving it their all. If that was out of being respectful or pissed off at the opponent, she didn't know. But one thing was sure. She was trained enough in martial arts to understand it. "I guess they are pretty good… Uh?" Akane then noticed that they were missing one person. "Where's… Naruto?"

"Morning, everyone." Akane found herself shrieking and falling on her but when she suddenly found Naruto's face in front of her own one, only upside down. The other stared as well, but they weren't as surprised as the blue haired girl to see Naruto sticking to the ceiling with his feet. "Ah, sorry. Guess this is a little too unusual, hn?" Naruto suddenly fell to the ground under him, with more grace than one would expect to him.

"Ahhh, magnificent display of chakra manipulation, Uzumaki-dono," Soun complimented Naruto, raising his head from the newspaper. Naruto just laughed.

"It's nothing. And please stop adding the dono and using my surname. After all, I will be your guest for a while, right?" Naruto took a seat beside Nabiki, who had somehow managed to finish washing her teeth and put away her toothbrush who knew where. He then began to shrug his shoulders to adjust to the feeling of the brand new clothes he was wearing. It was a school uniform. Even if simple in design, it was still a new feeling for him. Black trousers, a short sleeved white shirt with buttons closing it, from the collar down to the bottom, that he was currently wearing out of his trousers. Then, he noticed something near the table where Kasumi was setting breakfast on. A plate full of… "Bamboo trunks, nee-chan?"

"In case Saotome ojii-sama…" A loud splash signalled the end of morning practice, it seemed. Naruto turned around and saw Ranma with red hair and Genma in panda mode. Kasumi chuckled. "Gets splashed with water." Naruto found himself chuckling as well, as the animal and his 'daughter' got out of the backyard's pond and walked back into the house, muttering a 'morning' to the newcomers before heading upstairs to the bathroom.

"Very thoughtful of you, nee-chan. Oh, well…" Naruto took a bowl and filled it with rice, grinning widely. "More for us, I guess."

"Hmmm… Did you enrol him in our same school, dad?" Nabiki asked, helping herself with the food on the table as well. Soun nodded.

"Indeed. Actually, he's in your same class, Nabiki," the man replied, without raising his head from the newspaper. Nabiki nodded and then turned to the blonde. Little did they know, though, that Naruto was sixteen and should have been in the first year, not second year.

"Then if you want to come with me to school, remember that I have to be there half an hour before Akane and Ranma. Good thing you seem to be a morning person," Nabiki said, observing how Naruto was already dressed and had probably took a bath already too.

"You bet. Always at full energy, in the morning." Naruto nodded to Nabiki and then dove back in. The rice never stood a chance. Then something occurred to Soun.

"By the way, Naruto… -san, is that good?" Naruto nodded with a large grin… before he remembered the rice. He covered his mouth in a hurry. "I received the missive from Jiraiya-sama that told of your arrival and of the fact that he would join you just on a later date. But, may I ask you why?"

"Hmmm…" Naruto had to take some effort in not getting angry while thinking about the pervert. He sighed. "Well, let's just say that… he injured himself greatly. He's almost recovered, though. He will join us as soon as possible."

"But other than that… I know that this is your first time outside of your home country," Soun continued, his attention no longer on his newspaper. "I find it strange that he didn't ask of you to simply wait for him to recover."

"Ero-sennin said that it would be a shame to not respect this particular part of the schedule," Naruto said, carefully polishing his bowl from any leftover rice with his chopsticks. "As for why he let me travel on my own… well, let's just say that the curse can also work to your advantage once you get the hang of it."

--

"So… What's this half an hour early departure thing?"

"You have your private business, I have mine," Nabiki said, opening her own cellphone. A message had arrived with a pretty girl ringtone a few second before. The two were walking to school side by side, Naruto with his arms crossed behind his head, the bag hanging from his hands.

"Still ticked off about yesterday evening?" he said with a grin. Nabiki finished checking her messages and closed the phone, that emitted a low 'clap'.

"Not really. The few things I saw were satisfying," she said, keeping on walking towards the school before she raised her free hand with her index finger extended. "First, there was the fact that you took two carafes of hot and cold water. That probably meant that you needed a specific one of 'your girls', and that you had to go by trial and error. Second, the laptop and the bananas. You said something about a 'friend' of yours putting all those protections on your computer… So, this girl you wanted to turn it is a wiz-kid, a genius of some sort, and loves bananas."

"You're not half-bad yourself… well, in a different way. More than a genius, you're cunning." Naruto said with a chuckle. _I think that she would get along with her a lot…_ The blonde thought, thinking about another member of his 'inner group'…

"About the other two, instead…" Naruto blinked when Nabiki picked something out of her bag… two photos. He blinked. They were one each of him in the two shapes he had been transformed into in front of the Tendou family. "This one with auburn hair has a great deal of physical strength, judging by the hole she made through the front door. Other than some very bad eyesight, judging by her glasses."

"Ehm…" Naruto brought a finger to his right cheek, scratching it in embarrassment. Yes, a mole had better eyesight, when reading. "She studied too much in the past and ruined her eyes. She needs those glasses to read…"

"The second one, instead… well…" Nabiki observed the picture she had managed to get of Naruto in the form of the girl with long black hair. "She seems to be well built, in more than one sense. Is she some sort of martial artist?"

"Hmmm…" Naruto smiled. He liked this game he was playing with Nabiki. It was very amusing, and while he believed to have the upper hand upon her, he guessed he could never let his guard down. How the hell did she take those photos? "I guess I can give you a little prize. Yes, she's a martial artist. Or better, a swordswoman."

"Kenjutsu… ah." Nabiki then remembered all the objects Naruto carried around. Among them, there were the glasses and that bokken… And now that she looked closely, Naruto had brought it with him at school as well. She put a finger to her lips, in thought. _I bet he has the glasses as well, in the bag… So, those instruments are not for him, but for… them? One of them?_

"Seems like you're beginning to understand. Hope you can remember all the objects I had in my bag." Naruto said with a grin, before walking a bit faster till he was a couple of meters in front of her, her curious gaze fixed on his back.

"…" He had got it right, about Nabiki. She was cunning. And she liked to know more than other people, but most of all she liked to use her cunning to get what she wanted. This boy had just provided her with a little challenge. She smiled maliciously. If she played her cards right she could even make some profit out of the situation…

--

"Ahhh… So, this is a high school… so nice." Nabiki had dropped him off in front of the school main building after giving him enough indications to find their classroom easily. He observed as the school yard began to get more and more filled with students, who he guessed would usually stay and chat with each other a bit more in the yard. But that morning the sky was about to fill with grey clouds. That meant rain.

He shrugged it off and just closed his eyes, dozing off a little with what little sun was left. He liked it. The school… it felt so calm, so normal… so social. That sense of being just something normal or at least, if special, in a good way, if some stares he had got from a couple of girls while he walked upstairs and into the classroom were any indication. That kind of feeling that he had never had back in his home village when he went to the academy. Even if it was just going to be for a few weeks, he would enjoy being in a school.

"Good to see you're enjoying your stay. But the desk which you're putting your feet on happens to be mine." Naruto opened his eyes and found Nabiki in front of him. He had the decency to blush.

"Ah! Sorry!" He then picked up a handkerchief from his bag and began to clean the desk from whatever could have fallen on it. Nabiki observed him… And noticed that he seemed to have a certain experience with cleaning, with how meticulously he was cleaning her desk. After he finished, Naruto cleared his throat and decided to change the subject, still a little blushing. "So… where did you go?"

"Let's talk about that later. It's about to start." Nabiki said, walking to the window and opening it wide. Naruto blinked and got up from his seat, walking beside the girl who was currently looking out of the window.

"What is about to start?" Nabiki just smiled and pointed at the courtyard. Naruto followed the direction in which her finger was pointed and saw that… a lot of students were gathering at the entrance. All male ones. Like they were waiting for… He blinked when suddenly they began to fly in all directions. He saw a blue and white blur being the source of the blows, while another figure was near behind. "Ranma, and… is that… your sister?"

"It happens every morning. You see, someone has spread the rumour that Akane will only date someone able to defeat her. Whoops." A poor fellow had been launched all the way to their window. Naruto and Nabiki moved apart to dodge the incoming human missile who trashed into chairs and desks and then into the corridor, under Naruto's horrified gaze. It seemed so familiar… too familiar. He shuddered.

"No offense, Nabiki… but I pity Ranma for being engaged to your sister." Nabiki waved her hand around to dismiss the thing.

"None taken. Like Kasumi said, Akane is 'a sweet girl but hopelessly violent'." Naruto swallowed. That sounded like Sakura alright. He had learned to fear those kinds of girls ever since he had started transforming into one and peering through her mind… he didn't like what he found. Not at all. He decided to focus on the fight. Seems like the victims were almost over… He blinked when he noticed that someone was seemingly keeping his distance, hiding behind a tree, but watching the fight with interest. It was a very tall guy dressed in a kendo gi, black and dark blue. He was holding a bokken and something else in his hands. When the boys were over, he threw the other object, which Akane promptly caught.

"Hmmm… I wish I could hear what they were saying… this is getting interesting… uh?" He turned around and saw Nabiki offering him a couple of small black… He blinked. "Are those micro-headphones?"

"Yes. I have a few with me all the time." Naruto nodded and took a couple of the things, pushing them into his ears. Nabiki did the same.

"'The toll of the bell at the temple of Gion shows us the transience of it all.'" Naruto began to hear while the hidden person walked out of his hiding place, revealing himself to Akane and Ranma. "'And the color of the blossoms on the trees demonstrates that all which prospers must someday decline.'" He could guess that Ranma's gaze was as 'wtf' as his own one. What the hell was that guy saying? He had stopped with his legs parted open and holding his head and bokken low, before giving a chuckle. "What a boorish lot, truly."

"… Nabiki, I think your local crack dealer cuts the thing wrong." Nabiki snorted at that, and then threw Naruto a malicious smile. Naruto tentatively gave a guess. "Don't tell me. He's not on crack. He's just like that." The malicious smile didn't go away… He palmed his face with a groan. "Don't tell me. He's in our same classroom."

"Yes. Oh, wait. I think the amusing part is about to begin." Nabiki replied, making Naruto's attention go back to the courtyard. He had jumped down from the gate's wall and landed beside Akane.

"You're more popular than I thought," Ranma said, amused by the whole situation. Akane had suddenly gotten serious, though.

"Get out of the way. You'll get hurt." Her comment was met with a 'Huh?' of confusion from Ranma. And the boy with the bokken suddenly opened his eyes and pointed his weapon at Ranma.

"You, there!" That surprised both Ranma and Akane. The sudden shift of interest. "Aren't you being awfully familiar with Akane?"

"Let me guess. Is he her number one fan?" Naruto said while observing the exchange of stares and sentences between the trio. Nabiki just nodded.

"Yes. Kuno Tatewaki. Captain of this school's Kendo club… Oh. He's introducing himself." Nabiki said, just as Kuno asked Ranma's name just to interrupt him and start talking about himself.

"The rising star of the high school fencing world. My strength is beyond measure! I am the captain of Furinkan High School kendo club!" Naruto frowned. The guy reminded him of Jiraiya when he did his dances. "My voice alone can silence a crying child! I'm a junior in class E! My peers call me…" He suddenly raised his bokken to the sky, just as a thunder fell from the sky… A blue thunder? He palmed his face. This instead reminded him of Lee and Gai and their 'beach at sunset' technique. "The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!" He said, before lowering his weapon again. "Kuno Tatewaki. Age seventeen."

"…" Naruto stared. And he could see Ranma's face from up there, confirming that he was as shocked as him from how strange this 'Blue Thunder' was.

"That's new. Last I've heard, he was calling himself Shooting Star." Nabiki commented. He changed nicknames like a snake changed skins, basically… only much faster.

"…" Ranma recovered enough from the shock to mutter a few words. "I'm… Well, you know… A guest at her house…"

"A guest?!" Suddenly Naruto noticed that this Kuno guy had grasped his weapon with both hands. He had had enough experience holding one himself to understand that he was about to attack. "You're staying under the same roof as Akane?!" He ran to Ranma and brought the sword down in a vertical arc, but the pig-tailed boy jumped high in the air, somersaulting a few meters behind. Naruto grinned.

"Oh, this, I wanna see from a close enough distance," Naruto said, handing Nabiki back the phones and then climbing on the window's edge… and then fall down. Nabiki's head shot out outside, and her eyes widened as she saw Naruto run vertically down the building before jumping on top of a tree nearby enough to the place where the fight was about to take place.

_He sticks to the ceiling with just his feet, he runs vertically down building__s… Hmm, I'd almost wish it was him who was fighting Kuno right now. But Ranma will make for an amusing fight too, I guess. _She leaned her head on one of her hands, her elbow leaning on the border of the window.

"I'm Saotome Ranma of the Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts." Ranma said, slipping his bag off his shoulders and launching it at Akane, dropping into a battle stance right after. "I accept your challenge!"

"That boy wants to try and take on Kuno? That's dangerous!" Nabiki kept on looking out of the window while people began to gather around her to look out of the window as well. Naruto was sitting on a tree branch with his legs crossed, waiting for the thing to fight. Even if the guy was pretty strange, he looked strong.

"'The vengeance of heaven is slow but sure.'" Kuno continued. Maybe it was supposed to be some kind of intimidating speech? Ranma just flexed on his legs a little and returned his words with a smug smile. "So, you scoundrel! You've been hounding Akane! I, Kuno Tatewaki, shall punish you!"

"Hounding?! I'm not 'hounding' her!" That ticked off Ranma. Naruto guessed that he didn't like when people called him a pervert or a stalker.

"He's just a guest!" intervened Akane, more to deny any kind of relationship of any kind with Ranma than to defend his honour.

"Silence, fool! I shall punish you!" Kuno finally took initiative and charged at Ranma, mimicking his earlier attack: a single vertical blow. Ranma jumped out of the way… And Naruto whistled in amusement as Kuno's bokken crashed a good part of the wall.

_Now, that's impressive. Doing that with a wooden sword. He sure has got power…_ Ranma jumped towards the tree just beside the wall, and stepped off it just as Kumo swung his bokken towards it, landing on his feet. This time, he cut the tree in half neatly. "Hmmm… he's got control too. And with using a wooden sword only… I guess he channels his chi through the sword. But I take a bet he does it unconsciously." His mind drifted to one of the girls he transformed into. _Just like a beast, on instinct. He's nowhere near her level, but… he's pretty good._

"Hey, wait a minute!" Ranma rushed in towards Kuno, and Naruto had to sweatdrop at how easily the black haired boy was dodging the 'Blue Thunder's' piercing attacks with his sword. "Let me… make one thing… perfectly clear!" He basically ended up in Kuno's face and began to walk forward, thus forcing Kuno to backstep.

_But I guess power and control are useless if you can't hit your opponent at all…_ Kuno managed to regain his footing and then resumed trying to hit Ranma, but the black haired boy just kept on talking about how Akane didn't mean nothing to him and dodging the strikes like it was nothing… Ah. Of course, a Katana was a close range weapon, but not excessively. The blade was a bit long, after all. If an enemy gets in your face, it's almost impossible to hit him with the blade. That was why Ranma had got into his face. Kuno retaliated by trying to aim lower, at Ranma's ankles. The length of his body would make up for the missing distance between them.

"If you want a crazy violent girl like her…" Ranma said after somersaulting away from Kuno's latest strike and landing in a standing position to point at Akane with his stretched right arm and index finger. "You can have her!" Naruto winced. Seemed like Ranma was a bit stupid. He was giving her his back and ticking her off at the same time?

"Be silent! I will not allow you to talk about her in that fashion!" Kuno said, charging at Ranma again.

"What are you saying?! Pervert!" Just like Naruto expected. Akane had sorta joined the fray, launching Ranma's schoolbag at him just as Kuno came rushing. The pig-tailed boy jumped out of the way again and Kuno found himself cutting in half the bag, then raising his head to follow Ranma with his gaze… Another thunder. And that sound…

"Oh, no! Rain!" Naruto jumped back towards the building and ran back into his classroom before getting wet, surprising the hell out of everyone who were standing near the window, minus Nabiki. Just in time. A real downpour had started. He sighed in relief. "Safe… uh?" Naruto turned around as he saw Ranma attack Kuno and the swordsman countering. But no attacks seemed to have worked. Ranma had found himself poking Kuno in the forehead, while Kuno's sword just brushed his shoulder. Also, Ranma had just turned into a girl… That was when a panda holding a kettle in his hands came rushing into the schoolyard, knocked Kuno out of the way, grabbed Ranma and ran away. Kuno landed on his head. K.O.. Naruto brought a hand behind his back, scratching his forehead. "Hmmm… What a boring finale."

"Indeed. But homeroom is about to start. I guess it was right on time," Nabiki said, turning around to find her seat. Naruto did so too, but he then noticed everyone's stares on him now that the super-panda had gone into hiding.

"What? Never seen a ninja, before?" They all shook their heads. Naruto shrugged and sat down. He guessed they now had.

--

"Pretty impressive. You didn't even notice him do that to you, Kuno?" Naruto was observing the scene from afar. Apparently, that last meeting of sword and poke had had some effect. Ranma had scribbled or maybe just scratched the word 'annoying' on Kuno's forehead… But he had a feeling that even Ranma hadn't gotten away unscathed from that last exchange. It was a hunch.

"Saotome Ranma… to think that I thought him better than that." Naruto blinked when the brown haired swordsman got from his seat, took a piece of chalk and started scribbling a kanji on the blackboard. "He wrote my name wrong!" Naruto fell out of his seat. That was what he was upset about?! "Kuno is written like this!" The blonde stared from his prone position. Kuno, also 'capable'.

"Isn't it more like this?" He shifted his gaze to Nabiki who had written almost the same kanji, with a little variation that made his surname shift from 'capable' to 'incapable'. Kuno's gaze suddenly became vacant, and he coldly said to Nabiki…

"I despise you."

"I'm so glad," Nabiki replied just as coldly. He sighed and got back in a standing position. Goof or not, from what he had seen, he was a strong fighter. And he was there to get better in martial arts, right? He walked to them and cleared his throat. From what he had seen of Kuno, he seemed one used to use honorifics.

"Ehm… Excuse me, Kuno-san…" That made both Nabiki and Kuno blink. The two turned around to find a bowing Naruto. The swordsman couldn't place his face. He hadn't seen him… Then he remembered that they were supposed to have a new student in class, that day. Because of the panda he had missed homeroom.

"I am terribly sorry, but I do not believe we have been properly introduced yet," Kuno said. Nabiki rolled her eyes. This was going to take a while if he went on another 'introduce yourself after I introduce myself' thing.

"Kuno, this is Uzumaki Naruto, the new student. Naruto, this is Tatewaki Kuno. You've seen him fight in the courtyard," the middle Tendou said, cutting everything short. Naruto noticed how she had taken care of not mentioning that he was staying with the Tendous… and particularly Akane. Judging from his earlier reaction… Before Kuno could go on a rant on how inappropriate that introduction had been, Naruto stuck out his stretched right arm and hand.

"It's a pleasure. I've watched the fight. Those were some skills you showed, back there," Naruto said. Kuno blinked and he smiled smugly, indignation forgotten for the sake of enjoying flattery. He stretched his own arm and hand out for Naruto to shake.

"Of course. It is only natural… But I must say that you show an amazing amount of skill yourself to grasp the high level of my skills. Also…" Suddenly, Kuno's grip on his hands changed into him… It was like he was groping his hand, Naruto understood. "You seem to be a seasoned fighter yourself, Uzumaki-san."

"Eh? How…" Kuno chuckled and gave Naruto's hand another squeeze, before letting him go.

"Your hand. It is calloused and a few fresh cuts and old scars. And not of the kind you can get working in a construction site. Adding to that your young age and your observant mind regarding my skills, I feel safe to assume that you are a martial art practitioner as well."

"…" Naruto stared and slowly removed his hand, his gaze searching Nabiki's one for confirmation. The girl just shrugged her shoulders.

"Hey, what can I say. He's a goof, a loon, a narcissist…" Naruto noticed how Kuno's forehead began to twitch more and more with each second of verbal harassing. "But he's the captain of the Kendo club for a reason. You saw what he did with the wall and the tree."

"Passing over the lack of tact of our mediator, I do assume that you'd like to enlist my help in a few spars. I would usually accept as I'm not extraneous to the ways of teaching each other thanks to fighting… But it will sadly have to wait, for I am currently in a feud that requires all my attention and strength." Naruto blinked and turned to Nabiki again, confusion written all over his face. His stare basically meant 'What the hell did he just say?'.

"Translation from Kuno to Japanese: I assume you want to spar with me, but that will have to wait since there's already someone whose ass I want to kick and can't risk injuring myself in any other way." The girl said. Naruto went 'Aaaaaaaah' in acknowledgment.

"Fate has decided to put on my road to love and the sweet Akane Tendou the foul felony of Saotome Ranma!" Kuno suddenly gripped his fists tightly, looking high at the… ceiling, causing Naruto to sweatdrop. "Till I get rid of this spot on my honour and sweet Akane's own one, I will not permit anything to stray me from my path of vengeance!"

"…Aaaaaaaalright. I… understand…" Naruto suddenly felt the instinct to back slowly away from Kuno, like he could get infected just by standing near him.

"Break is over." Suddenly the teacher came back to the classroom and the three quickly took their seat. Naruto noticed how Nabiki was seating just to the immediate left of Kuno. If he was so 'insufferable' to her, then why?

"By the way, Tendou Nabiki… You said that Saotome Ranma is a guest in your household, right?" Nabiki just nodded as the teacher began to write something on the blackboard and all the other students sat down. "Just in what kind of circumstances has such a thing come to be real?"

"I swear, I think you need to be re-taught Japanese, Kuno." Nabiki said nonchalantly, like ticking him off like that was everyday business for her… Wait, maybe it was? "Well, the thing is that… He's the son of an old friend of my father. To unite the two schools of 'Anything-Goes Martial Arts', as of yesterday, him and Akane are officially engaged."

"…" Naruto saw Kuno tremble. And maybe he was starting to understand just why Nabiki sat beside Kuno, in classroom. "What… did you… say?"

"Ranma is Akane's fiancé."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Kuno shot up from his seat back on his feet, shock evident on his face. "F-Fiancé?!" Shock was quickly replaced by rage and outrage. "Nnnnnnngh… THAT WRETCH, SAOTOME RANMA… OW!"

"Kuno! Go stand in the hall!" The teacher had good aim while throwing pieces of chalk, it seems.

"...yes, sir." The swordsman silently obeyed under Nabiki's amused stare. Naruto palmed his face, and then silently whispered to Nabiki.

"Now I understand… You like to mess with people's heads, right?"

"That and money," Nabiki said, nodding silently while staring right in front of her. Standing in the hall was never fun because of the fact that they made you hold buckets of water while doing it.

--

"For real? He thought you were asking him out on a date?! Ahahahahah!" Naruto's laughter boomed through the streets as the two boys and the two Tendou sisters made their way back home. Ranma frowned.

"It wasn't funny at all! It was creepy! Creepy, I tell you!" Ranma said, growling under his breath. The blonde snickered some more at his expenses.

"Alright, alright. Let's talk about something else. That's one hell of a bruise he gave you on your neck. And he didn't even touch you?" Ranma relaxed a bit at the change of subject, and brought a hand to his neck, immediately regretting it. It stung.

"Yeah… incredible, hn? Just the friction of air. He's strong, that's for sure." Naruto nodded in acknowledgement.

"I hope you're good at dodging. I think that with just one blow some of your bones would go." While the two boys talked about fighting and such, the two sisters had other things to talk about. Mainly…

"Now the whole school knows because of Kuno… Aaaaaaaaargh!" Akane managed to whisper an outraged scream, incredibly. Nabiki rolled her eyes.

"It wasn't like it wouldn't be discovered, sooner or later…"

"Who says?!" Akane retorted angrily. So she decided to change the subject for the both of them. From black to blonde. "What about Naruto, instead? How is he?"

"He's alright. Funny and cute, judging from how the girls in the classroom ogled him. Apart from that, him and Ranma are very similar. They both seem obsessed with fighting strong guys and getting stronger. Also, he seems to be terrified of you." Nabiki said, earning yet another glare from Akane.

"What do you mean?"

"He seems to be used to being around girls with a temper and superhuman strength." Akane frowned a little more. "Other than that… He's a mystery. The most mysterious thing about him is his curse, though… it's not as simple as Ranma's." Nabiki felt that Akane's gaze had changed from annoyed to curious. "Well, Ranma hates turning into a girl, while Naruto has found an use for it. He gets annoyed when he transforms out of the scheduled time, but… that's it. The transforming itself doesn't bother him much… I think it's something else that bothers him about his situation."

"… He seems pretty… interesting, to say the least. And at least, he's not a pervert like Ranma." Akane said, acknowledging at least some sort of merit to Naruto. One has to wonder if things will change once his master reaches him in Nerima…

--

"At-chooom!"

"Honourable guest. You caught cold?" The white haired sage picked out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his nose clean, then grinned.

"Nah. I guess some hot babe must be talking about me." He then giggled maliciously, while removing the last of his bandages.

"I must ask, why did guest keep bandages on all this time if he healed after first month?" Jiraiya grinned.

"Eheheh… couldn't make my cute student see it. It's all part of my masterplan." Jiraiya allowed himself a round of malicious laughter. Orochimaru would get jealous. "Anyway, now that I'm sure he reached his destination, it's time to get moving."

--

"Alright! Time to get some training done!" Nabiki blinked as Naruto came down from upstairs wearing his clothes from the day before, along with an addition. Some kind of headband with a metal plate attached to it, tied tightly around his head. Ten minutes after coming back from school? She had barely got out of her clothes.

"Hmm… I guess you wouldn't be that interested in school. You're not going to do your homework?" the middle Tendou asked Naruto, who just grinned back at him.

"Eheheh, I can do both at the same time." At that Nabiki blinked while Naruto crossed his index and middle fingers in a handseal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

"Shadow… Uh?" Suddenly, a cloud of smoke burst out from near Naruto's feet, revealing… She blinked. Another… Another Naruto? Seeing her surprised face, Naruto grinned.

"This is my Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Basically, I can create solid copies of myself," he said while the copy kneeled down and started to open his school bag, putting what he needed of its contents on the table. "So, I can do both things at the same time."

"That's a neat trick!" Ranma had got back from their room as well, and was right now descending the stairs. "That would be pretty useful in a fight."

"You don't know the half of it." Naruto said, boasting a little.

"But… Even if you can do both things at the same time, how are you going to even understand half of what you need to do your homework?" That made Naruto turn to Nabiki again, still smiling. "I mean, I have the feeling that you haven't been going to school in a long time… You're in the middle of a scholastic year. How are you going to catch up? That's why I thought you wouldn't care about it very much…"

"Good question. Frankly, I don't understand a word of what they ask me of doing in those exercises. But…" Naruto walked into the kitchen and came back a few seconds later with a glass of cold water. He poured it on top of the copy's head, hoping to get it right on the first try… he grinned when auburn hair came into sight. "She does."

"Slave-driver." The copy, now in a female form, took a hold of the glasses from the bag and then opened the book at the required page and took hold of a pencil, now completely focused on his homework… But before that, he opened slightly his jacket. His breasts were suffocating, in there. "Let's see, trigonometry. Calculate…"

"…that's… awfully convenient." Nabiki said, observing how the now transformed copy was already going through the first exercise like it was nothing. She then remembered something. He referred to his transformations always with pronouns… "Don't your 'girls' have names?"

"Yep, they do." Naruto replied with a mischievous grin on his face. Nabiki frowned slightly. They had names, but he wasn't going to tell her. Seeing her expression, the blonde rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright. She's Naru. Not a joke, that's really her name."

"Naru…" Naruto smiled at Nabiki and walked outside, heading for the courtyard. He had an idea of having a small battle royal, at turns since he hadn't that much space. Ranma followed him outside, suddenly curious and eager to get maybe a good spar done. The middle Tendou just took a little book with a leather cover and opened it to a certain page.

"Let's see… So, Naru. She's some kind of genius." She had started collecting all the information he could get on Naruto's transformations and Naruto himself on her personal handbook. The first two pages were for Naruto and the first transformation he had showed, that now had a name: 'Naru'. She wrote that detail in the needed field, then she wrote 'studying genius'. Then she switched to Naruto's page. She added the entries 'can multiply' and 'weak to girl's uneasiness'. Her frown had had some effect, since he had given her a precious piece of information for free.

--

"Now, let's see…" Naruto brought a hand to his chin, rubbing it. The backyard wasn't that big, but it would be decent for a full width spar between him and three of his clones. He nodded to himself and then did a single handseal. "Kage Bunshin no…"

"Hey, Naruto! Want to spar?!" He stopped before even starting to build chakra, turning around to find Ranma entering the backyard as well, a confident grin on his face. Naruto then remembered that indeed, there was someone to train with… and then he sighed. Six months ago he would have accepted immediately. But now… He shook his head. No. This wasn't him. This was one of them… And after all, how was he supposed to learn if he didn't try against someone that knew what Taijutsu was for real?

"Well, why not." Naruto put a grin back on his face and dropped into a fighting stance he had recently learned, much to Ranma's enjoyment. "But I must warn you, I've just recently started getting some real training done in a Taijutsu style. I don't know how much good of a spar I will be."

"It's alright! I guess I can spare a couple of hours teaching you to swing your fists!" Ranma taunted playfully, dropping into his own guard stance. Naruto smirked and then moved his right hand's finger rapidly towards him, saying 'Come, come'. Ranma didn't wait for another invite. He charged at Naruto and stopped right in front of him, with his left leg forward, aiming a punch at his head. The blonde simply shifted his head to the right, the punch brushing against his cheek.

"Ouch," he let out. Even if it was just a graze, it stung nonetheless because of the friction. Ranma was already backing away from Naruto, being too close for comfort. Naruto decided to take this as a chance. He trusted forward and threw forward a quick one-two with his hands. Ranma simply jumped back, covering enough distance to completely avoid the attacks. "Good reflexes."

"What did you think?" Ranma smirked before jumping back forward and then sprinting at Naruto, throwing punch after punch after the blonde. Naruto sidestepped and backstepped at the same time, dodging Ranma's attacks but getting more and more backed into a wall with each attack, and that was probably Ranma's objective. Suddenly Ranma jumped and tried to kick Naruto on the right side of his head. Naruto held up both his hands to block the kick, and he cringed.

_Speed and agility are his forte, but his strength is something to be wary as well._ He then noticed that while still in mid-air Ranma was bringing the other leg to join the other on his block. And he was pretty sure that his block would break this time. He pushed Ranma away and then jumped away somersaulting. Ranma observed as Naruto landed on his hands and jumped even more back, landing on his feet and somersaulting yet again to land in the middle of the pond, on one hand… standing on one hand on the water. The black haired boy gawked at his opponent.

"That… you… the water…" Naruto grinned at his little victory.

"Eh… Get ready for me." The blonde jumped back and landed on the wooden palisade just behind the pond that closed the house out from the rest of the city… and then crouched down and spring-jumped towards Ranma, leaving a bit of a depression on the wood. The pig-tailed boy's eyes widened. The speed of Naruto's movement was much higher than before because of that spring start. And then Naruto adjusted his pose in mid air… He blinked.

He had just noticed something. The pose that Naruto had just taken… Naruto had not been kidding when he had said that he fought like a street brawler. He had no form at all, or better, there were hints of a form, still in forming, still to refine. But this one pose was refined, was complete. One leg bended out under his torso, corresponding arm bended near his side as well… No. There was something missing. When he was near enough, Naruto shot forward his leg.

"Ah!" Ranma barely dodged the first blow, that felt more like a stab. It reminded him of what he had seen Kuno do that morning, just with a leg instead of a bokken. Naruto didn't stop after the first kick. Using always the same leg, he kept on trying to kick in the face. Ranma dodged while backstepping the best he could, but the last kick came in as a clean hit, hitting him cleanly on the chin. Naruto managed to use that as footing to somersault and land in a crouched position. Ranma got pushed back a few meters but managed to stay standing, his head shot back.

"…" Naruto allowed himself a smile of satisfaction. _I did it… As I thought, her style really does suit me. I just need to integrate it with my mobility._ The blonde observed silently as Ranma got back into a normal standing position and lowered his head and his reddened chin.

"… That last attack." Ranma said, bringing a hand to his chin that now hurt. He then focused his attention to Naruto completely, who was still in a crouching position. "Unlike your other attacks, it had a good form… Even if I feel that it missed something."

"Eh. It's the first attack I've learned of this style. And sorry, I can't share its name." Naruto said. Ranma nodded and wiped his lips with one thumb… And then grinned. The blonde ninja blinked. "What's so funny?"

"Just content that you can get better. Once I kick your ass, we can train a little." Ranma moved forward fast, much to Naruto's surprise. He dodged the first blow… But the following ones were another story altogether.

--

"Ow…"

"Please hold still, Naruto-kun." Kasumi sighed. The two boys sure were exuberant. And when Ranma had talked about kicking his ass, he surely wasn't joking. There were few places where Naruto wasn't bruised. After he had managed to get that single blow in, there had been no more story. Not that it could have happened any other way, in a taijutsu-only spar against someone who had been training exclusively in that ever since a young age. Kasumi was patching up the last of the bruises, applying some disinfectant on a cut on his cheek. She then applied a small plaster, and smiled. "There. All done."

"Thanks, nee-chan. But as I've said, it will all be gone in the morning. I heal pretty fast," Naruto thanked Kasumi with a smile. The older girl just ruffled his hair a bit.

"Well, it's better to be safe than sorry, Naruto-kun," saying that, she got up from her kneeling position and offered him her warm smile before walking back upstairs to put the first aid kit back on its rightful shelf, while Naruto blushed and grinned like an idiot, following her with his gaze.

"You like older women or is it just Kasumi?" Naruto shivered and turned around with a jump at that, finding Nabiki's inquiring gaze.

"N-No! It's not like that! I mean…" Naruto blushed even further and waved his hands in front of his face in a hurry. Nabiki allowed herself an amused smile at that.

"Good thing. Kasumi is not interested in younger guys." Naruto stopped at that and pouted. She really knew how to get people. "Now, how come you didn't go 'full power'?"

"Eh… You noticed? But I thought you weren't into martial arts…" Naruto said with a grin, scratching the back of his head… and regretting it because he had a big lump.

"Give me some credit. I may not be a practitioner, but living with Akane and my dad I have a certain experience." Nabiki said, opening her little book again. "But it wouldn't take a hawk. For starters, that multiplying technique. In a fight that would have been a great advantage. And I suspect you have other things up your sleeve."

"Well, yes… but you see, the point of my whole staying here is getting better in my martial arts." Naruto said crossing his arms over his chest. "Had it been a real fight or a challenge I would have gone all out, but if it's just a friendly spar, I'll take any opportunity I can to get better in Taijutsu." He winced as he forgot the bruise on his elbow. "Even if it leaves me like this…"

"Getting better via trial and error, hn?" Nabiki sighed. She didn't see much sense in what people like Naruto did. Getting into fights that they knew they couldn't win just for the sake of getting better through it, even if they were in for a world of hurt. Naruto just nodded and then got back on his feet.

"Alright. Now, my clone finished homework, I have had enough of a beat… ehm, training for today…" He then looked at the time. It was going to be dinner time soon. He remembered that the previous day Kasumi had started fixing dinner a bit earlier than that… he frowned. She had lost time to patch him up. He sighed and then smiled. "Alright, I guess I can start on cooking."

"Uh?" Nabiki blinked at that. He was going to cook? "You can cook?"

"A bit. But I know an incredible chef!" Naruto said with a grin, heading to the kitchen, ready to go through the hot water/cold water trial and error yet again.

--

Kasumi had lost quite some time that day because of a few things. First, when she had gone shopping, it had begun to pour down again, too heavy for her to walk back home without an umbrella. Then, the fact that the clothes she had hanged had gotten dirty again because of the same downpour. That meant another laundry round. The last but smallest thing was tending to Naruto's injuries. He had said that it wasn't necessary, but she didn't feel alright to just leave him there, bruised, swollen… They were going to have dinner a bit later than usual, that day.

"Now, to get… Uh?" Kasumi stopped her descent down the house's stairs because something hit one of her senses. In this case, her sense of smell. It was one of her most trained and by now sensitive sense, since she was the one doing most of the cooking. She immediately recognized it as the smell of something being cooked. "…" She immediately paled. The only other person that ever tried to cook once in a while was her youngest sister. Akane. And that meant… she hurried downstairs and into the kitchen, hoping to stop her before…

She stopped when she noticed that it wasn't Akane who was currently cooking.

First thing, the person in front of the stove was shorter than Akane, and her hair while sharing a similar tonality of blue, was much shorter. Then, there were the clothes. The girl was wearing a sweater, a pair of brown pants, socks, slippers, and a pink apron. She was humming to herself while stirring something in a pot. "Who… are you?"

"Ah." The girl turned her head around, revealing her pretty face to Kasumi. She then welcomed her with a huge grin that looked almost out of place on her face, and realization dawned on Kasumi. "Nee-chan! Don't worry, dinner is almost ready! But if you started to set the table you would give me a great hand!"

"N-Naruto-kun?" Kasumi said, before her nose caught a bit more of the scent of what she was cooking. There was no way this was something made by Akane, now that she thought about it. The smell was just too good.

"Yep! I saw that nee-chan was pretty occupied, so I thought that maybe I could cook!" Naruto suddenly stopped stirring and scooped up a big deal of soup with the spatula he was holding, and then blew on it softly before moving it in front of Kasumi. "Tell me what you think."

"…" Kasumi blinked but then complied. She slowly lowered her head and took the spatula in her mouth along with the sample of soup. She moved it over her tongue, tasting it for good before swallowing. Her eyes opened in realization. "It's… delicious."

"Really?! I'm so glad!" Naruto said smiling widely and bringing the spatula with both hands in front of his face, a little flush on his face… Before he realized just what he was doing and frowned. "Damn… how come Shinobu's personality is the one affecting me the most while I'm transformed, I'll never understand…" A grin immediately went back to his face, though. "I'm almost done! I would be grateful if you set up the table, though, nee-chan!"

"A-Alright…" Kasumi could only say, almost speechless. Someone had taken a load of work off her back and was doing a good job with it too. That was the first time it ever happened… in years. And yet there was something nagging at the back of her head. She paid it not much more mind, though. There was dinner to be had.

In the meanwhile, behind a corner, another Tendou took note. Name: Shinobu. Particular skills: marvellous cook. Awfully cute. And… _Seems to affect Naruto more than his other transformation with her personality… So, it's not just genderbending like Ranma… How much more there is about your situation, Uzumaki?_

_Continue…_

_In the next chapter…_

After getting acquainted with the Tendou household and its madness, Naruto starts to become aware of the madness of the whole Nerima. And he just can't understand why he and Ranma seem to be magnets for its causes. Stay tuned!


End file.
